MOSLEY WILL BE THE HARDEST PUNCHER PACQUIAO HAS FACED AS A WELTERWEIGHT

By Gary Reynolds | December 29, 2010

Manny Pacquiao's last fight in the lighter weight divisions took place over two years ago when he battered and dominated the rugged David Diaz before ultimately stopping him in the ninth round to capture the WBC lightweight title. Since then, the Filipino superstar has moved on to pick up titles in three more weight divisions - jr. welterweight, welterweight and jr. middleweight - all the while taking on opponents who were considered to be naturally bigger than him. Time and time again, fans questioned if the smaller man would be able to handle the power and strength of his opposition, and each time, Pacquiao would prove that he could. On May 7, 2011, he will once gain face an opponent considered to be bigger and stronger, but this time, he's stepping in with Shane Mosley, arguably the hardest hitting puncher he's faced since becoming a full-fledged welterweight.

Although some fans are upset with the selection of Mosley as Manny Pacquiao's next opponent, there's no denying that the three-division world champion is still a dangerous threat. Despite the fact that he's coming off of a draw with Sergio Mora and a lopsided unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley still possesses the kind of punching power that can change a fight in an instant. In fact, Mosley has knocked out more fighters than any of Pacquiao's last 5 opponents. Not to mention, with the exception of Miguel Cotto, who has been in 16 fewer fights, Shane Mosley actually sports one of the highest knockout percentages that Pacquiao has ever encountered.

Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28KOs) - 75.68 KO%
Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39KOs) - 72.22 KO%
Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32KOs) - 68.09 KO%
Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30KOs) - 66.67 KO%
Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27KOs) - 58.70 KO%
Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20KOs) - 50.00 KO%

The punching power of Mosley is something that Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, is not taking lightly. "It's not an easy fight. He's very dangerous in the early rounds. You saw what happened to Mayweather," he would tell Ruslan Chikov of the Golzka paper. "We can't look past him. Mosley is a tough guy. He has a good chin and he has good hand speed." While some may scoff at the notion that Shane Mosley actually has a chance to defeat the pound-for-pound champion, at the very least, he has a much better puncher's chance against Pacquiao than anyboy else has had in the past two years. That being said, if you thought guys like Margarito, Clottey, De La Hoya, Hatton, or Cotto might be able to pull off the upset, then the same should be said about Mosley, who will no doubt find a home for his own shots. The question is when he does land a shot, like he did against Mayweather, will Pacquiao be able to take it?

It won't be long before we actually get a chance to find out.

RETURN TO HOME PAGE